Why is John Terry charging fans £100 for an autograph?

The former Chelsea and England captain is charging fans £25 for a ticket to his tour, £100 for one autograph, and £500 a head to dine with him.

John Terry has defended the amount of money he is charging supporters on his tour by announcing all proceeds will go to his John Terry 26 Foundation.

The ‘An Evening With John Terry’ tour began last Friday. Terry met fans in Basingstoke for the first of his four nights. According to the website promoting this tour, these were the charges involved:

General Admission:

Price: £25
Arrival at 19:45
Standard seating
Involvement in raffle and auction
Questions and answers session
No food included

Gold Package:

Price: £100 per person
Early arrival at 6:15
Priority seating
Meet and greet with John Terry
Photo with John Terry by a professional photographer (6×9)
Involvement in raffle and auction
Questions and answers session
No food included

Platinum Package:

Price: £300 per person
Early arrival at 5:45 pm
Front row seating
Each person can bring 1 item to be signed
2-course dinner included
Meet and greet with John Terry
Photo with John Terry by a professional photographer
Involvement in raffle and auction
Questions and answers session

Sponsorship Package (Only 1 Table of 10):

Price: £5,000
Company logo featured in social media campaigns and show announcements
Early arrival at 4:15 pm
Private 2-course dinner with John Terry
Best seats in the house
Each person can bring 1 item to be signed
2-course dinner included
Meet and greet with John Terry
Photo with John Terry by a professional photographer
Involvement in raffle and auction
Questions and answers session
Photos taken between 6-7:45 pm

According to The Telegraph, Signatures are worth £100 at the event. The prices vary by location though, with fans in London having to pay £30 for admission.

Terry will later visit Bournemouth, Birmingham, and London before wrapping up his tour.

Why is Terry charging so much money?

The website promoting the tour made no mention of the motive. However, on Instagram, Terry explained the money would go to his foundation, which he set up “seven or eight months” ago.

“The big thing – and this is very important – the big thing that they forgot to mention is that all proceeds from these events that I’ve been doing – and the only reason that I signed up – is to raise money for my foundation, for the John Terry 26 Foundation,” he said.

The Chelsea academy coach opened up on how his past experiences with terminal and ill children inspired him. He has been working with the charity for “six to seven months”, and the tour is part of the job.

“But like I said, the key thing that the press have forgotten to write is that all proceeds from this event [will go to charity],” he added.

“And I didn’t want this publicized, and I agreed [on] this with the guys, because I don’t think it’s right for me to publicize that.”

“JOHN TERRY – CAPTAIN, LEADER, LEGEND” by JULIAN MASON is licensed under CC BY 2.0.